Uni Watch Profiles: Skye of @Uniformswag

By Paul Lukas, on April 4th, 2013

At some point over the winter — I think around December or maybe early January — an increasing number of readers started sending me Ticker submissions in the form of links to a Twitter feed called @Uniformswag, which I’d never heard of before. Upon further investigation, it became clear that @Uniformswag was posting photos of new uniforms — mostly from college football and other college sports — at a tremendous velocity. This being Twitter, there was no room for commentary or analysis, but the general tone seemed to be “Here’s the new [whatever] being worn by [whomever] — it’s great!” That’s not my favorite approach to uniforms (or to anything), but the sheer volume of stuff was impressive. Whoever was behind the feed, he or she clearly had access to good information and was seriously devoted to sharing it. And from what I could tell, everything on the feed was legit — no rumor-mongering, no nonsense.

Also impressive: @Uniformswag’s number of followers, which appeared to be growing by leaps and bounds each day. Quantity isn’t necessarily a barometer of quality, of course, but still — a lot of people were paying attention. And I’m always in favor of people paying attention to the uni-verse.

I recently got in touch with the guy behind @Uniformswag — he simply goes by the name Skye — and suggested that we do an e-mail interview. He readily agreed. Here we go:

Uni Watch: You’ve already told me that you prefer to be known simply as “Skye of Uniformswag.” If you’re willing, however, can you please tell me how old you are, where you live, and what you do for a living?

Skye: I am 23 years old; I recently have moved to Nashville from Virginia.

UW: When did you launch the @Uniformswag account on Twitter?

Skye: I launched Uniformswag in October of 2012, thanks to some encouragement from my friends.

UW: If I’m not mistaken, you don’t have a web site or a blog or anything like that — just the Twitter feed. Is that right?

Skye: Right now there’s just Twitter, Instagram, and a Lockerdome page. There are a couple things in the works to help take Uniform Swag to the next level, however.

UW: You have over 44,000 followers [and probably plenty more after this interview runs], which is a lot, especially for an account that was only launched back in October. Are you surprised by how popular your feed is?

Skye: Yes, it is awesome watching the amount of followers grow every day. Since it has taken off, I have reached a record of 1,200 new followers in one day. All of my followers are true fans of the gear sports teams wear, and it is really fun being able to reach out and share the uniforms with them.

UW: There’s also a Twitter account called @Uniform_Swag. Is that connected to you, or is that a copycat account?

Skye: There have been a few copycats that are trying to use my name to create their own accounts. I thought long and hard about the name and think others would feel more pride in their accounts if they did the same, rather than trying to mimic someone else’s creativity. Uniform Swag is the definition of how I feel about the wonderful world of uniforms.

UW: Which sport(s) do you care most about? For the sports you don’t really care about, do you post things about those sports anyway, or do you just not bother because you’re not that interested?

Skye: I am definitely a football guy. I have played football since I was five years old, all the way through college. I try to include all sports, but some sports just make it so easy, like college football and lacrosse. The college football uniform arena is amazing. For many of my followers who have been with me since football season last fall, they have seen some of my best work, from contests to themes. We have really had a lot of fun and this coming season promises to be just as exciting.

I am happy to post any great swag from any sport. We all know the main sports and cannot get enough of them, but I know there are so many athletes out there who are proud of their team’s swag. I have even posted high school swag that players proudly send to me. I have posted content from motocross to volleyball.

UW: You seem to get a lot of early scoops regarding new helmet designs, new gear, etc. Do you work in the industry, or are you good at scouring Twitter to find photos as soon as they’re posted, or have you made a lot of contacts via your Twitter feed, or what? Tell us as much as you can about the connections you’ve made in the uniform world.

Skye: When I first started, it was just searching the web and Twitter, trying to find the latest uniforms (which I did even before I had the Twitter account). Once the account started growing, I was able to make a lot of great connections with companies in a lot of different industries that have an impact on the uniforms. I also have connected with equipment managers on a lot of different teams in a variety of sports. I enjoy making the contacts in the industry, so many teams and companies have reached out to me directly and offered exclusive and early information. It is a wonderful feeling when you gain the attention and acknowledgement of key people in such an exciting industry.

UW: Roughly how many times a day do you tweet? Do you try to make sure you tweet at least a certain number of times per day?

Skye: I normally don’t have a quota on how many times I should tweet a day. I just make sure I am on top of all the latest uniform news and get it out to my followers as soon as I can. Of course, different seasons in the year have a lot more going on, so it really depends on what is being released.

UW: What happens if you travel or go on vacation? Do you keep tweeting? Do you worry about missing out on some new uni news?

Skye: I am always checking my phone for new tweets, e-mails, or texts about new uniforms, even when on vacation. If for some reason I haven’t seen a new uniform that was released recently, my followers are great about bringing it to my attention and making sure I don’t miss anything. I feel very fortunate that my followers seem to be having as much fun wit this as I am.

UW: There are so many uniform unveilings now, plus lots of prototypes, fan concepts, etc. Does it ever feel overwhelming? Or does it just make things more exciting for you?

Skye: It never is overwhelming; I truly enjoy all the new uniforms that are being unveiled in sports. I feel like a kid on Christmas every time a team puts out a new uniform and I cannot wait to put it out to my followers and see their reactions.

UW: How did you first get into uniforms? Like, has it always been an obsession of yours, or is it something more recent? Details, please!

Skye: I really started to get uniforms in high school. My varsity coach got our team the same style uniforms as Oregon was wearing, but in two-tone blue. It did not look as good. Also, my lacrosse coach offered us a lot of swag that we proudly sported. Once I got to college, I was always checking out the latest jersey Oregon had just come out with and the latest trends that were hitting the football field. When my teammates and I football games, they’d say I would pay more attention to the uniforms than to the game.

UW: Do you have a big collection of jerseys, caps, etc.? If so, have you gotten a lot of freebies via your various connections, or do you pay cash money like everyone else?

Skye: When I was younger I was a big collector of hats, but lately I have started to collect more unique uniform swag. I have paid for some of my stuff but a lot of teams and equipment managers have started to send stuff over and I am very thankful for that.

UW: Do you care about vintage uniforms, old designs, and so forth? Or do you only care about new stuff?

Skye: I am definitely a new-school guy when it comes to uniforms, but I have a lot of respect for the classics. My two favorite teams are Oregon and Penn State. They are on the opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to uniforms. So I can enjoy a classic uniform, but I definitely look forward to seeing the new designs the companies and teams come up with.

UW: Nike: Really awesome, really awful, or somewhere in between?

Skye: Of course Nike is really awesome, but I am not prejudiced like some people. I think all the different brands have their strengths and weaknesses. It is really cool to see the Big Three (Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour) all compete to have the best product out, and it certainly keep the uniforms growing and pushing the limits.

UW: Would you say @Uniformswag has changed your life? Or is it just another hobby?

Skye: It has definitely helped me make some great connections and is a lot of fun. I am really excited about where it will take me.

UW: What’s your goal with @Uniformswag? Like, do you want to get a job at a sportswear company? Do you want to write about uniforms? Or are you happy just having a popular Twitter feed?

Skye: All the above, if Uniform Swag can open doors for me in the sportswear or sports journalism worlds, that would be amazing and I’d be extremely excited about it. But if it is just a popular Twitter feed, I am happy doing something I enjoy. There are some plans for potential growth and interesting partnerships in the future, so we will see.

UW: You’ve told me that you read my web site. My sense of things is that you and I have very different tastes regarding uniforms, different tastes regarding uniform companies, and so on. Do you ever read my stuff and just shake your head?

Skye: I do agree that we do have different tastes, but I think everyone is entitled to their own taste in uniforms. There’s a uniform out there for everyone.

+ + + + +

Radio reminder: If you read this before 9:15am eastern, you can hear me talking about the new Dolphins logo on WAXY 790 in Miami. This is the interview that was originally slated for Tuesday but then got rescheduled for today.

+ + + + +

Uni Watch News Ticker: Just in case you’d forgotten, the NBA is still trying to sneak ads onto uniforms. If you read that piece, the clear takeaway is that the only thing preventing uni ads is that the owners are too greedy to have come up with an equitable way to divvy up the loot. I tell you what, I’d love to attend an NBA Board of Govs meeting, if only so I could drop a few C-notes on the floor and watch the owners scurry like rats to scoop them up. … It’s now clear that the Cardinals have created a real mess for themselves regarding their road caps (from Kyle Sawyer). … New G.I. Joe helmet for Virginia Tech. Well, at least it gives me an excuse to invoke my favorite adjective, “autumnal.” … Here’s what a bunch of Nike-sponsored golfers will be wearing for each round of the Masters (from Dave Wilson). … Yesterday I received an e-mail promoting MLB’s official caskets, urns, and other memorial-based products. Classy. … Yesterday I asked if this might be the new Adidas template for 2013 sideline gear. Apparently it is (from Jeff Cox). … What would happen if you took a bunch of MLB team logos and swapped out the typography for some really lousy fonts? This (from Ron Wade). … This article about Jackie Bradley Jr. includes a quote from him about his JrOB: “My dad will probably come up here, probably come up to the press box and say ‘Well, I’m Jackie Bradley, too, give me a jersey. He always used to tell me when I was younger, ‘You better put Jr. [on the jersey], because I’m not going to jail for you if you get in trouble’” (from Brian Mazmanian). … The Penguins are mothballing their blue throwbacks. There’s a funny rant about this at the bottom of this page (from Chris Weber). … This is odd: Jose Reyes appears to have some shoes with both the Nike and Under Armour logos (good spot by Tim Feren). … The bad news: The Brewers made a really lame Harlem Shake video. The good news: An old-school Brewers helmet buggy appears at the 0:17 mark, so they apparently have one on the premises at Miller Park (from Deb Reiser). … In case you didn’t already know, here’s a piece on the origins of all 30 MLB team names (from Kevin Wright). … Who’s that in the Steelers cap and what appears to be a basketball jersey? None other than a young Johnny Rotten (from Skott Daltonic). … New logo for Georgia Regents University. Further info and a style sheet here. “Talk about drab, lifeless and horribly designed,” says Preston Feiler. … Let no gruesome injury go unmerchandized: In response to Kevin Ware’s broken leg, Adidas has provided Louisville with this travel shirt and this warm-up shirt — the latter of which, of course, is for sale. Seriously, how do these people look in the mirror? … Dave Bloomquist designed a fun Super Bowl infographic. … The Orioles appear to have changed their batting helmet numbers from orange-outlined to solid orange (god spot by Paul Gaiser). … When Giants manager Bruce Bochy played college ball at Brevard Community College in Florida, he wore this unusual jersey design. “It hangs in the lobby of the athletic department,” says Jim Grimes. … This is totally awesome: sheet music for songs about baseball, with really sensational cover art (big thanks to Lee S.). … Roasted bear: Cubbie skipper Dale Sveum wears a heated vest under his jersey (from Benjamin Gordon). … Paul Konerko is apparently quite the ladies’ man (from Brady Phelps). … “There’s nothing better than Opening Day,” says Phil. “But there’s something just so so un-American about this.” … The Lakers plan to fix Shaq’s backwards retired jersey (from Brian Waltz). … “The members of the Drexel wrestling team wore their singlets to the WNIT semifinal game between Drexel and Florida,” says Gerry Dincher. “I wrestled in high school and keep track of collegiate and high school wrestling, and this is the first time in 30 years of being involved with the sport that I’ve see singlets worn for something other than an official match. We don’t even wear them to practice.” … Chilly conditions last night in New York, which prompted some unusual preparations by some of the Yankees (from Anthony Juliano). … The Lake Erie Monsters will wear autism-awareness jerseys on April 13 (from Tom Pachuta). … As you may have heard, the Connecticut State Senate passed new gun control legislation yesterday. Many of the senators wore green ribbons during the floor debate, for the victims of the Newtown massacre (from Gregory Koch). … The Nats’ TV station was caught using old stock footage of the Washington Monument during a game broadcast. “Sloppy, but typical of the channel that is primarily owned by the Baltimore Orioles,” says a nonplussed William Yurasko. … Just a few short years ago, MLB base coaches didn’t wear helmets and players didn’t wear those skullcap thingies. Take those two elements, mix in a cold night in Cincinnati, and you have Angels first base coach Alfredo Griffin from last night (screen shot by Michael Kinney). … The Newtown memorial patch was supposed to be just for Opening Day, but Mike Morse of the Mariners was still wearing it yesterday (from Rick Rutherford). … Earlier in the week I mentioned that NBA refs might be adding some sort of memorial for former ref Greg Willard, who died a few days ago. Sure enough, they’ve added a “57” sleeve patch (from Brett Crane). … “I’m not sure why, but I expected better taste in headwear from Colts QB Andrew Luck at last night’s San Jose Sharks game,” says Sean Robbins. … New logo for the Ohio South Youth Soccer Association (from Brandon Ponchak). … The Montgomery Biscuits, who had already announced a new home cap, also have a new home jersey (from Shane, who didn’t give his last name). … “I coach a Connie Mack baseball team in Southern California called the Arroyo Seco Saints,” says Tommy Stafford. “Our field is located next to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. We’re honoring our 10th season with a celebratory logo I designed.” … Want to protect your spikes from concrete, and/or protect the floor from your spikes? Try this slipper-like product. “I don’t know, I just always took my cleats off and put on sneakers or something after a game,” says Stan Olechowski. … Yesterday I Ticker-linked to a story that said the Indians were using the block-C logo on all their helmets this season because of a new rule that limited MLB temas to one batting helmet design this season. That sounded fishy, so I ran it past A’s equipment manager Steve Vucinich, who said it was news to him. Hmmmm.

159 comments to Uni Watch Profiles: Skye of @Uniformswag

I’m really confused by the “something just so un-American about this” item. Yes, the Toronto Blue Jays and their fans are not located in the United States. Is that the only point?

Will S|
April 4, 2013 at 1:13 pm |

If you compare the stereotypical displays of patriotism of the United States and Canada, this more over the top unreserved style would more likely be called “un-Canadian”

Adam|
April 4, 2013 at 7:47 am |

Coupla things:
1) Who the hell is Johnny Rotten?
2) The BLOW Jays thing is un-american b/c it is in Canada, and who cares
3) HOW IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS GOOD AND MONEY in sports do the LA Lakers make such a STUPID and impractical mistake on a jersey retirement that hangs in public?

1) Johnny Rotten
2)My thoughts exactly…maybe we’re missing something
3)I’m not surprised. We all see it, but then again we all come to this website every day because we notice things like that, so, there ya go.

Holy_cal|
April 4, 2013 at 7:50 am |

I’m going to go on the record as saying Andrew Luck’s hat was perfectly fine. At least it was a sharks hat.

Besides many teams sell these types of hats with the proceeds going to veterans, or families of vets. The Capitals do the same thing (I usually opt for the shirt).

“Sloppy, but typical of the channel that is primarily owned by the Baltimore Orioles,”

It is owned by the guy who happens to own the Orioles. It is NOT owned by the Orioles. But yes, it is a terrible network either way.

terriblehuman|
April 4, 2013 at 8:31 am |

I think you’re picking at nits here – the very raison d’etre of MASN is to generate revenue for the Orioles. It’s not like Peter Angelos said one day, “Oh my, how did I end up with a cable channel and a baseball team?”

So to say it’s a network owned by the Orioles is pretty accurate, I think.

Actually…it is not to generate revenue for the O’s. The team is still waiting to see any of that money. That was just one of the empty promises thrown at the fans when the network was created to help justify its existence.

It exists to compensate for the lost revenue that having a team in DC created. If the Expos did not come to DC, there would never be a MASN. It exists strictly as a revenue stream for one Perter Angelos.

terriblehuman|
April 4, 2013 at 9:27 am |

Thanks for that.

But you’re telling me there’s a regional cable channel that’s not a money printing machine for the local baseball team?

Joe – I’ve kind of figured that about Angelos & MASN too, but for simplicity sake, I just pointed out the Orioles part of it. I’m really grateful to Paul for leaving in my commentary, the situation isn’t well known, even in D.C. & Baltimore.

J.R. Clark|
April 4, 2013 at 8:13 am |

I’m a proud Jaguar alumnus, and I’m still calling it Augusta State University.

Take your GRU and shove it up your quack ass, Azziz.

J.R. Clark
Augusta State University BA ’03

Cort|
April 4, 2013 at 9:06 am |

As a completely impartial observer, when I read “Georgia Regents University”, I thought “Diploma Mill.”

“Augusta State University” sounds like a real school. Plus, “Augusta” just has an ivy-covered ring to it. (Or at least an azalea-festooned lilt. Either way, if your school is in Augusta, it seems stupid to not use the name Augusta.)

terriblehuman|
April 4, 2013 at 9:28 am |

“Sounds like a diploma mill” is just about right. Plus, I hear “regents” and I think of the school founded by Pat Robertson.

the cardinals hat story claimed that they will be wearing both blue AND red batting helmets this season, which puts another hole in the indians’ “lone helmet” rule.

Bernard|
April 4, 2013 at 8:34 am |

That’s not my favorite approach to uniforms (or to anything), but the sheer volume of stuff was impressive.

Quantity isn’t necessarily a barometer of quality, of course, but still — a lot of people were paying attention.

While qualifiers like this may be true or accurate, they feel a little out of place in the introduction to an interview. I don’t know if they temper the enthusiasm or what, but I can’t help but stop and think, “Why go there?” A couple in the Creamer profile as well.

Adam N.|
April 4, 2013 at 9:41 am |

Ditto. It comes across as a value judgement of how other uni enthusiasts go about their business and the people who follow their site/feed.

I find @uniformswag an interesting and impressive phenomenon, so I interviewed the guy behind it. That doesn’t mean I can’t have any misgivings about it — or, more importantly, with the notion that a certain volume of Twitter followers correlates with quality. Look, I have even more Twitter followers than Skye does (at least for now, although probably not for long), but that doesn’t mean anything either. When dealing with someone whose entire presence is Twitter-based, I think that’s a relevant point. If you disagree, that’s fine.

Bernard|
April 4, 2013 at 11:12 am |

I’m not arguing the point’s relevance. My reaction is to the qualifiers diminishing the subject matter in the intro, that’s all. Not my cuppa, but it doesn’t have to be.

JimWa|
April 4, 2013 at 11:36 am |

You take the good. You take the bad. You take them both, and there you have …

Mark in Shiga|
April 4, 2013 at 8:38 am |

I don’t see why the league would try to stop teams from having separate home and road batting helmets. Just 20 years ago almost nobody had separate home and road hats, then, to spur sales, most teams either brought them back or started introducing them. Now they want to make a rule about the helmets? Just let the teams decide if they want home-and-road or to just have one helmet.

Ignoring that it seems like they aren’t actually doing that and the Indians are lying… for the same incredibly weak reason that the NFL doesn’t allow home & road helmets – “brand integrity”.

Jake Kennedy|
April 4, 2013 at 8:41 am |

THANK GOD Those cursed Penguins Jerseys are OVER! They were ugly and every time I saw them I got a bit depressed. It almost ended the career best hockey player of our generation (Sorry Ovi, you don’t have a cup or a gold medal). Good bye navy blue uni, you will most definitely not be missed!

You’re aware that the blue uniforms are coincidental to Sid’s injuries, right? It wouldn’t have mattered if he was wearing orange because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time for that puck to the jaw. The hit that Steckel threw? That also had zero to do with the uniform he was wearing.

I get that people associate the jersey with events that happened on the ice, but let’s not go overboard with the jersey conspiracy theories here.

Jake Kennedy|
April 4, 2013 at 9:08 am |

Butterfly Effect, if he were wearing awesome 1997 retro black Pens uni’s he may have been fine! We will never know! Malkin was hurt in them too. Even if it wasn’t the jersey’s fault (I’m still going to say it is) it’s still always going to be associated with it in my mind.

I beg to differ. The ROBO-Pigeon is one of the most memorable eras in team history for all the wrong reasons. denying that history would be denying any of the good that preceded and followed.

I’m not a fairweather fan. I lived through the good times and the bad times. It allows for perspective, and I like the current perspective of this team compared to the ROBO-Pigeon era.

Joseph Gerard|
April 4, 2013 at 1:55 pm |

The Penguins were mostly good during the era without the skating penguin. They were just switching back to it whenever they dropped to the bottom of the league standings due to Lemieux needing to cut costs as a result of the Howard Baldwin era.

First of all, if you’re going to do navy blue, at least do the actual historical navy blue jerseys from the fall of 1977 to January 1980, with the white upper sleeves, and the design that was adapted into the first black-and-golds.

Second, NO MORE “VINTAGE WHITE”! I cannot stress enough how ugly this looks to me on uniforms. It’s one thing if you’re a team like the Minnesota Wild, who actually have “Minnesota wheat” in their color palette, or the Phoenix Coyotes and their “sand” color, or the Chicago Blackhawks’ throwback tan – these are/were genuine parts of the teams’ colors. But when a team goes with “vintage white” for the purpose of attempting to make a uniform look deliberately older than it actually is, it just comes off as incredibly offensive to me.

These are not 80-year-old wool sweaters. Hell, they’re not even 50-year-old durene jerseys! They’re modern, high-tech uniforms that, with this “vintage white” crap, look like they’ve been soaking in either coffee or cat piss for a year (possibly a mix of both!). Wool uniforms may not have been perfectly white when they were brand new, but they didn’t look like this dirty old shit back then either!

Now, I actually didn’t mind the Boston Bruins’ Winter Classic or Buffalo Sabres’ fauxback’s use of “vintage white”, but that was only because it was paired against athletic yellow/gold, a warm color that’s also fairly bright, and helps to negate the apparent dirtiness of the non-white. I haven’t seen any other use of it, however, that doesn’t look like garbage.

The worst offender, though, is the Columbus Blue Jackets. A faux-back with huge swaths of coffee-piss, plus a number font that looks like it came off an Atari 2600 game, equals pure crap.

Before the Pens go and adopt another third, though, I’d rather see them fix what’s wrong with their current regular jerseys. I’ve never been a fan of this particular Edge template, still in use by the Senators and formerly used by the Lightning (and basically a modification of the original 2006 Edge template used for the All-Star unis). I’d love to see something with actual stripes, and not just bland tan-not-quite-gold panels like they currently have.

Hate the thirds, glad they’re gone; the Pens need to update their current unis, using stripes instead of lame color panels.

And, most importantly, I will now exclusively refer to hockey’s so-called “vintage white” as “Coffee Piss”.

T'Challa|
April 4, 2013 at 12:38 pm |

Rob could you let us know how you really feel about vintage white? The line about he jerseys looking like they sat in either cat pee, coffee or a combo of both had me dying.

Cort|
April 4, 2013 at 5:58 pm |

Those late 70’s Pens jerseys were beautiful.

Joseph Gerard|
April 4, 2013 at 1:22 pm |

I didn’t mind the throwbacks, but I’m not upset to see them gone, too. To be honest, as Penguins fans (in my best Pittsburghese accent), we need more worried abaht our inevitable capture of da Stanley Cup this year than abaht some uniforms n’at.

In any case, I wasn’t just referring to him. I was also referring to the “flying penguin” logo.

urbanleftbehind|
April 4, 2013 at 8:51 am |

I think your expectations of Luck were too high. Daddy was a QB and recent AD for West Virginia. Andrew might have also ended up on Buckwild. And growing up in Houston isn’t going to make him dig camp any less.

Coleman|
April 4, 2013 at 9:11 am |

Please, for the love of all that is good in this world, do NOT associate that fucking show with anything other than MTV greed. It is no representation of true West Virginians.

Joseph Gerard|
April 4, 2013 at 1:43 pm |

^Agreed.

People do give West Virginia a bad rap, especially here in Western PA. A lot of the West Virginia haters here in Western PA probably don’t realize that about 90% of the cultures between the two are the same. You could even make the case that a lot of the stereotypes that wrongfully fit West Virginia actually fit Western PA a lot better, like hunting, listening to country music, and inbreeding. (It happens more frequently in PA than you think–ask the Amish.) Heck, Cabela’s down in Wheeling, WV probably gets a LOT more business from PA customers than West Virginians, despite there being tax advantages to placing it in PA as opposed to West Virginia, or even Ohio. (West Virginia is only 14 miles wide in the section of the Northern Panhandle between PA and Ohio where Wheeling is situated.) If there is any stereotype about West Virginia that is true, that is, the locals are some of the NICEST people you will ever meet. Same holds true with Ohio. In Western PA? If you’re not from the area–or not a fan of the Steelers–people will hate on you all day.

Cort|
April 4, 2013 at 9:18 am |

Luck went to Stratford High, an upscale high school in the Memorial area of west Houston. His neighborhood included “The Energy Corridor”, a concentration of corporate offices for oil companies, and may be the reddist spot in the reddest state in the Union. They love ‘Murica, Toby Keith, guns and Freedom.

Rich white kids driving enormous pick-up trucks while wearing low profile camo print baseball caps are as common around Stratford High School are taquerias, halal butcher shops and pho restaurants are in my neighborhood. Which is to say, very common.

Camo print? I’d expect nothing less from young Luck.

Shane M.|
April 4, 2013 at 11:23 am |

Cort, where do you live? That sounds suspiciously like my neighborhood in Falls Church, VA.

Cort|
April 4, 2013 at 2:39 pm |

Alief, Texas. We’re more hip hop than country music, more tortillas than Texas toast, and if somebody here flies the the banner of a failed breakaway republic, it ain’t the Confederate Battle Flag; it’s the striped saffron colors of The Republic of South Viet Nam. It’s the weirdest, coolest place in Texas. My relatives are terrified to visit.

Joseph Gerard|
April 4, 2013 at 1:45 pm |

Oliver Luck is still the athletic director at WVU.

Dumb Guy|
April 4, 2013 at 9:01 am |

What?! No Bleeding Cowboys?? Maybe he’s saving that for the National League.

Dumb Guy|
April 4, 2013 at 9:02 am |

Maybe I’ll buy a Cubs urn and leave it un-engraved. Just the logo seems to fit the bill.

Phil P|
April 4, 2013 at 9:05 am |

Looks like Louisville is forgoing any profits from those Kevin Ware shirts and adidas is contributing to the university’s scholarship fund. I wonder if there’s some backtracking going on to save face or if they intended to do that to begin with…

MEANS|
April 4, 2013 at 9:26 am |

See what happens when you do a little research first instead of asking how these people can look at themselves in the mirror?

terriblehuman|
April 4, 2013 at 10:02 am |

Well, let’s not be too generous, now. UofL is forgoing the royalties (as in, letting adidas keep the money), but still keeping the rest of the money generated from the sales of the shirt, while adidas is donating a unspecified portion, not all of the proceeds.

And beyond the money exchanged, there’s still the issue of keeping the athletes out of the process because of “amateurism”, yet still promoting the Louisville and adidas brands using Ware’s notoriety.

Anjroo|
April 5, 2013 at 4:43 am |

When he asked how they could look themselves in the mirror, I thought he meant how could they look at themselves in the mirror while wearing that hideous shit. Err, swag.

Max|
April 4, 2013 at 9:05 am |

There is nothing that isn’t spectacular about that Smithsonian blog about baseball music

as a follow-up, here’s DC/MD’s own Rhodes Taven Troubadours, with a little baseball music:

for us DC folks, they also did a Walter Johnson tribute called “Here Comes the Big Train” but I can’t find a free link to anywhere

Cort|
April 4, 2013 at 9:27 am |

That Philadelphia A’s song is interesting. You never hear US sports fans using that phrase anymore — “Come On You (insert team name here)” — but it’s really, really common in England: “Come On You Blues!” “Come On You Spurs!” “Come On You Reds!” etc. etc.

Jonathan Richman also recorded a song about Walter Johnson. Like so much of his work, it’s extremely idiosyncratic, and I can’t tell whether it’s precious and affected, or brilliant.

Regarding Jose Reyes’ shoes; What appears to be a red nike swoosh looks to be a glare of some sort. If you look at the blue/red pair right next to it, you will see the red part is trim of some sort. I am pretty sure that is the same thing on the blue/white pairs, red trim just being washed out in the picture.

Kory|
April 4, 2013 at 4:05 pm |

Good call Jordan.I was coming to post the same thing. It took me a minute to figure it out. Just a crazy coincidence

Marc-Louis Paprzyca|
April 4, 2013 at 9:52 am |

Memorials should be for the deceased. As nasty as Kevin Ware’s injury was, it does not deserve any sort of memorial. Injuries are part of the game and he is not dying because of it. Where should the line be drawn for a “memorial?”

Yes, a memorial is, by definition, for the deceased. That’s why this is not a memorial, and nobody ever said it was. It’s a gesture of support.

Now, you may think it’s unnecessary. But that’s a whole different argument, because this was never a memorial to begin with.

Arr Scott|
April 4, 2013 at 9:56 am |

Virginia Tech is one of the few schools for whom GI Joe unis are totally unobjectionable at any time. The players are actually cadets. But the particular autumnal colors are deeply unfortunate. First, the whole thing with camouflage is that it’s intended to, um, camouflage the wearer. As in, make the person harder to see in his environment. Unless VT expects war to break out among Shenandoah fly fishermen this fall, orange camouflage is insane. As in, it’s the opposite of what the word “camouflage” means.

Second, there is a precedent for orange-hued “autumn” military camouflage. The Waffen SS:

As a Tech Alum, I can tell you zero of the players are cadets. The Corps of Cadets is a proud tradition at Virginia Tech, and provides a unique environment with a military school operating within the university. Male students have not been required to participate in the corps since 1964. Today, about 1,000 students are members of the Corps of Cadets. So to say that it is always acceptable is a reach at best, there are way better ways to appreciate the military rather than wear ugly helmets.

Arr Scott|
April 4, 2013 at 10:45 am |

Ah, thanks for the correction. I suspect my misperception may be widespread: Even some folks I work with who are based in Blacksburg are under the impression that all Tech students are still part of the Corps.

If you get an error page following this link, just go to http://www.newerabyy... and then select your country, then reload Tony C’s link. Anyway that worked for me.

News to me: When it’s a fabric, New Era calls it Athletic Gold. When it’s a thread, New Era calls it Manila.

Dustin|
April 4, 2013 at 11:18 am |

I plan to use the Cards “hat flap” the next time I teach a poli sci intro class as an example of how poorly designed surveys yield unhelpful results.

Arr Scott|
April 4, 2013 at 11:44 am |

On the surface, yes, but: This assumes that the Cardinals were seeking a binary red-or-blue result or to let fans determine the outcome. If instead the team was trying to gauge the intensity of fan feeling on the subject, then this is actually a reasonably helpful result. (Setting aside deeper issues of methodology, such as running an unscientific online poll in the first place.) With only 39% committing to blue-only on the road, the Cardinals appear not to face overwhelming fan backlash against red on the road.

That is, as a guide to specific action, the survey is not helpful at all. As a guide to possible fan reaction to a specific action, the survey may be pretty helpful after all.

That’s why they said they’s be referring to it as “The American” rather than the AAC.

Can’t say I think that sounds any better.

Arr Scott|
April 4, 2013 at 1:44 pm |

But how will the sports press and fans refer to it? I would not bet money on everyone saying “the American” all the time. For one thing, that’s just a ridiculous thing to say. (As in, the zero people who have ever talked about the Gophers or Hawkeyes or Badgers playing in “the Big.”) For another, it’s just too long, and as a new term, won’t be widely recognized anyway. It’s gonna be AAC, no matter what the conference would prefer the citizenry to say or write.

Honestly, I don’t know why they didn’t add an outline sooner, or why it isn’t part of the normal cap. The bright blue and bright orange tend to visually struggle with each other. There’s a reason that every other instance of the team using orange text on a blue background includes a white outline.

walter|
April 4, 2013 at 2:43 pm |

They’re fine. As I like to say, it’s nice to have a new spin on an old favorite. And nobody’s making you get rid of their “ordinary” hat. Kudos.

scott|
April 4, 2013 at 9:04 pm |

Sure, let’s have 100 or so different caps. After all, they’re not getting rid of the primary one.

Phil Hecken|
April 4, 2013 at 6:42 pm |

“Mets orange-brimmed alt cap is making its debut this afternoon.”

~~~

And, perhaps not coincidentally…the Mets lose their first game of the season.

The entire cap looks clownish, but the white outline is especially awful.

After a year off, I’m back to tracking the Mets unis this year. Let it be known that, obviously very early, they are perfect in the blue caps and pins (or, as god meant them to look). and 0-1 in the Alt cap$

TA|
April 4, 2013 at 1:07 pm |

I think the Cleveland baseball team was trying to say that there is only one helmet logo allowed, not that only one helmet is allowed.

Now, that might still be a falsehood. At least Detroit and Oakland have different colored logos for home/road. Are those considered different logos or different colors of the same logo? Is there a throwback exception? Is Cleveland’s claim completely fabricated?

Mike|
April 4, 2013 at 1:15 pm |

I think the team is being less than honest and wants to de-emphasize Wahoo without making a big political statement. I can live with that. I live in Cleveland and would love to see Wahoo gone. I don’t particularly care if there is a big “Mea Culpa” statement from the team or not. I would just like to see this racist charicature gone. –My $0.02.

http://www.brewcrewb...
It’s towards the bottom – he doesn’t list his source but for what it’s worth, not the type to pull stuff from the air.

walter|
April 4, 2013 at 1:27 pm |

“Upgrading” the American League with cheesy fonts made my day! It’s great when my geekery (uniforms) and my job (graphic artist) converge. Sports is lucky to be associated with those blocky, octagonal letters and numerals; functional and timeless.

Nice page on baseball nickname history. The Dodger history is a bit more nuanced (and fun) than given there, though. Here’s the fruit of many hours of poring over ancient Brooklyn newspapers: http://www.covehurst...

Graf Zeppelin|
April 4, 2013 at 2:36 pm |

Not sure I like these alt caps the Mets are wearing. The white outline ruins the logo. They seem rather needless to me. Better than the last 2-tone cap, to be sure, but let’s not make a habit out of wearing these with the snow-whites, or in day games, or whatever.

Graf Zeppelin|
April 4, 2013 at 2:39 pm |

Note also that the Mets are using their standard batting helmets; hopefully that will continue and no helmet analogue to the alt cap is forthcoming.

TheLupineOne|
April 4, 2013 at 2:52 pm |

Both Bronson Arroyo and Shin-Shoo Choo are wearing double-flapped batting helmets today. Has there ever been another time when two players have gone double-flapped in a major league game?

Not just that, but two non-switch hitters on the same team!
That’s probably what you meant, but the question as you asked, verbatim, could be answered with, “Yeah, Arizona v Philly, Orlando Hudson and Shane Victorino.” Which isn’t as fun of a question or answer.